An Interview Article From Line Zine
I have always been an admirer of Disney's
customer service and their systems to insure "customer delight", as opposed to just
customer service. This means going far beyond the customer's expectations
to deliver something extra, or above and beyond the call of duty every
time. It means training, understanding by employees and empowerment
that goes straight through the organization to back all this up with
consistent management rewards and signals. This means praise and reward
for employees who actually execute these principals and values, setting
examples and sending a consistent message to employees and customers
about your brand and values. Some companies talk about "quality" customer
service, but then punish people when their "minutes per customer" allocation
or other measures are exceeded, or when asked for something that is
not standard just say "no" with no effort to handle exceptions.
This is not a consistent message to employees and negates the training
they received, preventing what Disney calls their "magic moments".
This is applicable to almost any business and the goal of having every
customer get something above and beyond what they expect not only drives
repeat business, but also has been proven to generate superior profits
and referral business. This is true customer service quality and walking
the talk! --- Bob Norton
In keeping with LiNE Zine’s exploration of the human capital
revolution, I visited the Disney Institute in Lake Buena Vista, Florida
to glean their perspective on human capital. After all, who knows how
to treat people better than The Walt Disney Company? In their theme
parks, as well as in their merchandise locations and resorts, guests
brightly mirror the smile on every employee’s face.
The Disney Institute provides business
professionals with a unique opportunity to benchmark the “Disney approach” to business
and management issues. Despite my giddy predisposition about anything
sporting the Disney name, the word “institute” had me subconsciously
anticipating a formidable, perhaps even austere, experience. I didn’t
realize those expectations. As I first passed Disney Institute’s
colorful studios, performance center, outdoor amphitheater, and cinema
I was pleasantly surprised. My experience was anything but austere.
The atmosphere, special treatment, entertaining, and knowledgeable
facilitators, real world (Disney, that is) field experiences, and strategically
positioned media events all resulted in a wonderfully pleasurable experience
in Disney Institute’s laboratory for learning. What I did find
formidable were the concepts, systems, and processes that the Disney
Institute shares and the backstage work and creativity that make their
programs possible.
I had the opportunity to audit part of a Disney Institute program,
The Disney Approach to Quality Service for Healthcare Professionals,
and then to talk with Larry Lynch, the Director of Business Development
at the Disney Institute.
Emory: New economy thought leaders agree
that human capital—the
people, the knowledge, the ideas, the creativity—may be today’s
most valuable commodity. The Walt Disney Company embraced this concept
many years before it penetrated most other businesses. How did Disney
evolve to this way of thinking?
Lynch: With us it goes back to Walt,
who recognized that creating his special brand of theme park would
take people. That’s one
of the precepts for everything we teach at the Disney Institute. Walt
was a visionary. He understood the value of the human component—that
it’s the everyday human interaction between our cast members
and our guests that genuinely makes the difference.
You attended one of our Quality Service
programs. In that program—and
in all Disney Institute programs—we share the processes and systems
that we use here in Walt Disney World. Each process relies on the human
component. In the 1950s when Walt was building Disneyland, he recognized
and emphasized people as one of our core strengths.
Emory: Walt Disney is credited with a seemingly endless supply of
optimism. And that optimism seems to play a significant role in the
success of your company.
Lynch: I like to think we are all very
optimistic. That’s probably
a trait we bring to the company.
Emory: When I attended your Quality Service program, I learned that
Disney puts huge effort towards hiring the right people, particularly
people who can provide quality service. What kinds of people do you
look for?
Lynch: Optimism is a key part of it.
We are careful to hire what we call “right fit” talent. Walt recognized way back when
that the “right fit” requires optimism, a positive attitude,
plus the necessary skill set. These are all key components to great
casting. We are in the entertainment business and we call our employment
process casting. And we call our employees cast members.
Emory: In your casting process, how do
you attract “right fit” people?
Lynch: For one thing, we have a program
called “Casting Scout.” All
of our employees are indeed casting scouts who look for the talent.
Our cast members know what “right fit” looks like. They
clearly understand the types of people we want as cast members.
In our People Management program, we
take people through our casting center and let them share in the
hiring process. The casting process itself is a process of entertainment—it’s actually a pleasurable
experience. Think about when you’ve applied for a job—it’s
not always pleasurable. The location is usually way out of the public
eye. The information shared is basically, “Here’s an application.
We’ll get back with you.” The process that we share is
very different. There’s an element of self-screening and self-selection.
Those things—the Casting Scout program, the process that we
go through, and the fact that the process is pleasurable—all
combine to help us find “right fit” talent.
Emory: What methods do you use to promote excellence and to retain
strong talent?
Lynch: First, as I said, we hire the “right-fit” talent.
After that, we give them the training they need, communicate with them
on a regular basis and reward and recognize them for their successes.
Our training and communications programs provide our cast members with
a clear-cut understanding of company expectations and give them the
skills and information they need to do a good job.
Reward and recognition are key—on an individual basis. If you
are a team member and your leader delivers a mass “thank you” to
everybody, you may think, “but, I’ve done something more.” On
the other hand, if your leader recognizes the overall team performance,
and also recognizes your individual contributions and strengths, don’t
you feel so much better? We use the term, VIP, Very Individual Person.
VIP is a key element of our culture to drive employee recognition.
Emory: While attending your Quality Service
program, I learned about your service standards and their priority
of (1) safety, (2) courtesy, (3) show, and (4) efficiency. Disney
obviously can’t anticipate
and teach every possible guest situation, yet I can think of no situation
that would not fall under one or more of your four service standards.
They provide the basic knowledge to empower and liberate cast members
to make sound decisions and follow through with action. Walt Disney
himself said in talking about his organization, “As well as I
can, I’m untying the apron strings.” What other examples
can you share of how Disney empowers cast members?
Emory: In your casting process, how do
you attract “right fit” people?
Lynch: For one thing, we have a program
called “Casting Scout.” All
of our employees are indeed casting scouts who look for the talent.
Our cast members know what “right fit” looks like. They
clearly understand the types of people we want as cast members.
In our People Management program, we
take people through our casting center and let them share in the
hiring process. The casting process itself is a process of entertainment—it’s actually a pleasurable
experience. Think about when you’ve applied for a job—it’s
not always pleasurable. The location is usually way out of the public
eye. The information shared is basically, “Here’s an application.
We’ll get back with you.” The process that we share is
very different. There’s an element of self-screening and self-selection.
Those things—the Casting Scout program, the process that we
go through, and the fact that the process is pleasurable—all
combine to help us find “right fit” talent.
Emory: What methods do you use to promote excellence and to retain
strong talent?
Lynch: First, as I said, we hire the “right-fit” talent.
After that, we give them the training they need, communicate with them
on a regular basis and reward and recognize them for their successes.
Our training and communications programs provide our cast members with
a clear-cut understanding of company expectations and give them the
skills and information they need to do a good job.
Reward and recognition are key—on an individual basis. If you
are a team member and your leader delivers a mass “thank you” to
everybody, you may think, “but, I’ve done something more.” On
the other hand, if your leader recognizes the overall team performance,
and also recognizes your individual contributions and strengths, don’t
you feel so much better? We use the term, VIP, Very Individual Person.
VIP is a key element of our culture to drive employee recognition.
Emory: While attending your Quality Service
program, I learned about your service standards and their priority
of (1) safety, (2) courtesy, (3) show, and (4) efficiency. Disney
obviously can’t anticipate
and teach every possible guest situation, yet I can think of no situation
that would not fall under one or more of your four service standards.
They provide the basic knowledge to empower and liberate cast members
to make sound decisions and follow through with action. Walt Disney
himself said in talking about his organization, “As well as I
can, I’m untying the apron strings.” What other examples
can you share of how Disney empowers cast members?
Lynch: One example is our program called
Take Five in which cast members take five minutes out of their day
to proactively do something special for a guest. We call it being
aggressively friendly. Our cast members look for opportunities for
magic moments—those little things
that happen for guests that are utter surprises. For example, a housekeeper
in one of our resort hotels discovered that a guest was not feeling
well so she took the time to get chicken soup from a resort restaurant
and bring it back to the guest.
Emory: That would surprise and delight a customer.
Lynch: Exactly. The magic moments happen because everyone understands
within the service standards that they are empowered to proactively
do something special.
A letter from a guest who attended a
Disney Institute program illustrates another example. While having
lunch at the California Grill the guest mentioned to a cast member
that he wanted to come back for dinner. The reservation list was
full, but the cast member offered to work on it. Throughout lunch
the cast member was on the phone, and at the end came back to say
he was still working on it. Later that afternoon, the guest received
a note with the time and reservation number for The California Grill.
To add to that magic moment, the guest’s
party had a special seat by a window and the cast member stopped in
that evening to make sure that his party was seated and enjoying dinner.
Those kinds of magic moments can happen when you understand the deliverables
on the service standard. The cast member received praise and recognition
from leaders within our organization and the action will come back
to him a hundred fold.
Emory: I felt several of those magic moments first-hand as your Disney
Institute team went far beyond my expectations to make sure that my
stay was as pleasurable as could be and that I received optimal insight
and information.
I’d like to challenge you a bit now. It’s
clear that Disney places a high value on cast members. But, it's
easy for employers to value human capital when faced with employees
whom they see as strong contributors. What about the mere mortals
who perhaps make more than their share of mistakes?
Lynch: At Disney, we have developmental
plans that connect our performance with our company business plans.
On Broadway a performer who’s
not right for a role can often be recast. We do the same thing here.
If it doesn’t work, we give them an opportunity to explore areas
within our company where they can succeed. While you do the right things
like measure performance against the business plan, and provide recognition
and rewards, you know at the end of the day, there is the opportunity
to recast for a different role—one that provides for that “right-fit.” Remember,
it’s all about the positive experience—even mere mortals
have the need to succeed.
Emory: I have an excellent example of
recasting. During the program I attended, George Miliotis, manager
of The California Grill, told the group about an excellent server
who just couldn’t master
the cash register. Miliotis tried interventions like talking with the
server, retraining, and shadowing another server, but nothing worked.
Miliotis then worked with the cast member to identify a “right
fit” situation. As a result, that cast member moved to a banquet
type operation where he didn’t have to operate a cash register,
but still serve people in the same way.
Lynch: That’s a great example. Here you have a cast member who
instead of being humiliated has the opportunity to say, “I can
still be successful.” And he probably will be.
Emory: There seems to be a strong sense of community amongst Disney
cast members. How does this sense of community benefit your business?
Lynch: Tremendously. The sense of community allows us to formulate
the right elements of teamwork. People may work well individually,
but a valuable strength comes from our ability to pull together as
a team.
Emory: What would you recommend to other organizations to help build
this sense of community?
Lynch: As we teach at the Disney Institute,
there are ways of communicating within the organization that will
foster affiliation and achievement and that will supercede rivalry
within any team. Most organizations have lots of high achievers.
Many team building programs exist to help them get to know each other.
When it’s over, they may hug and
walk away, but when they walk back to their workplaces they’re
not sure what they accomplished. They had a great time, but they don’t
know where to go next.
We take participants through a series
of exercises that help them recognize the need for balance. They
may be high achievers, but they will achieve on an even higher level
as they understand each other better. You find the right blend of
affiliation, then manage the element of achievement so that within
that affiliation everybody comes out as a high achiever. We don’t
want an individual to achieve at the expense of others on the team.
We try to get people to understand, within the context of their own
organizations, what it takes to create the elements of community.
Emory: Your cast members seem to delight
in their work. That’s
obvious by the smiles on their faces and their seemingly endless energy
level. What can a company do to foster and nourish this kind of dedication?
Lynch: It’s about leadership to connect and align the organization’s
vision. An organization has to stand for something beyond just making
money. When leaders communicate the vision and get everybody aligned
and focused, the result is a group that has the dedication you see
within our cast members. They all understand the vision and mission
and their roles to deliver outstanding guest service every day.
Disney treasures the assets brought by
our cast members—our
human capital. For an in depth look at our leadership and people management
programs and processes, I’d invite LiNE Zine readers to come
to the Disney Institute to see, first-hand, what we do.
Larry Lynch is Director of Business Development
at Disney Institute located at Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena
Vista, Florida. He is the key executive responsible for the programming
direction of the business, with sales, program design, facilitation,
and operations reporting to him. In addition to his years as an association
executive, Larry’s nine years of police experience qualify him as a “life-long
people-learner.”
For more information about Disney Institute
programs, call 407-566-2660 or visit www.disneyinstitute.com.
Cheryl Emory is a contributing editor for LiNE Zine and principal
consultant for Performance Designs in Richmond, Virginia. In addition
to writing and consulting, Emory stays busy helping two daughters get
through their teenage years, advocating for persons with special needs,
supporting local theatre, and spending time with her husband.
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